Bellator 271 results and highlights: Cris Cyborg KOs Sinead Kavanagh in 92 seconds

Check out the results and highlights from Bellator 271.

As expected, Cris Cyborg is still the Bellator women’s featherweight champion.

In the Bellator 271 headliner in Florida, the legendary Brazilian striker got the fastest finish of her Bellator career with a brutal knockout of substantial underdog Sinead Kavanagh of Ireland. Kavanagh got into an exchange with Cyborg near the cage, and while she landed a left hook, Cyborg has bazookas for fists and the return fire was far heavier. The second right hand that Cyborg landed put Kavanagh down and out. Follow-up hammerfists weren’t necessary but they did connect to make Kavanagh extra knocked out.

Cris Cyborg def. Sinead Kavanagh by KO (punches) at 1:32 of round 1 to remain Bellator women’s featherweight champion

That was Cyborg’s first opening round finish since she stopped Yana Kunitskaya at UFC 222 in March 2018. It’s her third consecutive successful Bellator title defense and the 20th knockout of her remarkable career. For Kavanagh, it’s her first true KO loss, as her TKO defeat to Janay Harding was a cuts stoppage. It was Mission Impossible from the start for Kavanagh and unfortunately for her, Cyborg pulled off Mission Inevitable.

Elsewhere on the main card, Linton Vassell pulled off an upset with a split decision over Tyrell Fortune. There’s no reason to have given Fortune a card, as he clearly lost at least two rounds after being outwrestled (!) and outgrappled in pretty much every round by the Englishman. Fortune did have good moments on the feet in the 2nd and 3rd frames but he also got himself into big trouble on the mat, frequently getting reversed after completing takedowns. Vassell was able to fully mount Fortune in the 3rd after being on the bottom, which summed up the nights of both men.

Featherweight prospect Aaron Pico went the distance for the first time in his career, dominating a tough but overmatched Justin Gonzales in a shutout decision. Pico mixed in his wrestling — he completed seven takedowns — with his powerful boxing and ruthless hooks to the body to leave Gonzales with little room to maneuver. His relentless pace did come with getting countered on occasion as he bombarded with Gonzales with his offense, but he was never hurt and certainly hurt Gonzales on a couple of occasions.

The main card opener saw former Bellator featherweight title challenger Arlene ‘Angerfist’ Blencowe comfortably pick apart Invicta FC veteran Pam Sorenson by unanimous decision. This was certainly not a crowd pleaser but Blencowe did what she had to do and busted up Sorenson’s face with her striking.

Main Card

Linton Vassell def. Tyrell Fortune by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Aaron Pico def. Justin Gonzales via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Arlene Blencowe def. Pam Sorenson via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

Prelims

Steve Mowry def. Rakim Cleveland via submission (kimura) at 3:28 of round 1

Bruna Ellen def. Desiree Yanez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Roman Faraldo def. Robert Turnquest via KO (flying knee) at 1:17 of round 1

Cody Law def. Colton Hamm via KO (strikes) at 4:21 of round 1

Valerie Loureda def. Taylor Turner via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Muhammed DeReese via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Ethan Hughes def. Mahmoud Sebie via TKO (strikes) at 4:05 of round 3